THE biggest-ever US National Spelling Bee ended suddenly as wildcard debutante Karthik Nemmani correctly spelled out koinonia to KO hotly tipped Naysa Modi.

Four-time entrant Naysa, 12, had already vanquished the 14-year-old victor at the county level but her nous left her when she forgot the double “s” in Bewusstseinslage — a state of consciousness or a feeling devoid of sensory components.

Karthik pounced, picking the right letters for haecceitas (“thisness”) in round 17 and koinonia, Christian fellowship or communion, for the final round.